Mortgage interest rates dropped again last week, and while that did little to bolster demand from homebuyers, it did send homeowners looking for savings on their monthly payments. Applications to refinance a home loan jumped 6% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Volume, however, was still
0 Comments
The Federal Reserve, over its more than centurylong existence, has emerged as a leading force in the stock market. This stature was bolstered by the central bank’s adoption of two unconventional policy tools in the 2000s – large-scale asset purchases and forward guidance. Large-scale asset purchases refer to the Fed’s emergency buying of government debt
0 Comments
It has been a tumultuous year for the crypto investors who have witnessed the total crypto market capitalization tumble from about $2.2 trillion at the beginning of 2022 to about $850 billion in December. The sharp erosion in valuation was caused due to several high-profile bankruptcies in 2022. The entire Terra ecosystem imploded with the
0 Comments
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) could potentially find some mutually beneficial interactions with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), according to one industry executive. While crypto is often associated with financial freedom, the concept of CBDC is frequently seen as the exact opposite. But this doesn’t mean that there cannot be a balance between the two, according
0 Comments
Cryptocurrencies have suffered immensely in 2022 from the onslaught of a hawkish Federal Reserve and the implosions of crypto platforms FTX, Terra, Celsius Network, and others. What were the most-searched cryptocurrencies in 2022? Notably, the market valuation of all the cryptocurrencies combined has dropped 70% year-to-date (YTD) to nearly $770 billion, signifying massive capitulations by traders
0 Comments
Municipals were weaker in spots Wednesday as outflows from mutual funds intensified. U.S. Treasury yields fell, and equities ended higher. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 62%, the five-year at 66%, the 10-year at 69% and the 30-year at 93%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. read. ICE Data Services had the three at 63%,
0 Comments
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., introduced legislation Wednesday that would eliminate more than half of the regional Federal Reserve banks and subject the remaining banks to additional federal rules and restrictions. The bill, titled the Federal Reserve Accountability Act, would reduce the number of regional Federal Reserve banks from 12 to five; require bank presidents to
0 Comments
PNC Capital Markets has been added to the newly-formed list of underwriters who failed to meet the exemption requirements in connection with 36 limited offerings in violation of Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 15c2-12 and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-27 on supervision. Without admitting or denying the findings, PNC agreed to be censured and
0 Comments
Placer County, California, has been a leader in creating public finance solutions. Much of that, according to public finance professionals and county leaders, can be attributed to one person: Jenine Windeshausen, the county’s long-serving treasurer-tax collector, who is retiring at year-end. “Jenine gained a reputation for bringing creative financial solutions, and innovative entrepreneurial programs and
0 Comments